BERKELEY (KRON) — Robots designed to look like children could someday be used to treat pedophiles, some experts in the subject say.

The subject came up during a recent robot ethics panel discussion in Berkeley.

Some therapists say they could use the anatomically correct robots designed to look like children to provide therapy to some sexual offenders.

“Child-like robots could be used for pedophiles the way methadone is used to treat drug addicts,” Ron Arkin, Georgia Tech’s Mobile Robot Lab director said during the panel discussion according to Forbes. “There are no presumptions that this will assuredly yield positive results – I only believe it is worth investigating in a controlled way to possibly provide better protection to society from recidivism in sex offenders. If we can save some children, I think it’s a worthwhile project.”

Other experts say it’s inevitable that child sex toys will become available and could make it more difficult for police to find and identify real life victims.